The Bear GardenTheatre

The Bear Garden - Elizabethan AmphitheatreThe Beare Garden Amphi-theatre served as both a theatre and an arena for bear-baiting and bull-baiting. It was located on the Bankside in Southwark in what had been the Bear Garden. Philip Henslowe and Jacob Meade demolished the original Garden and built the Hope theatre on the same site (but slightly further South) in 1613-14. A single red brick house set among warehouses and offices down a narrow side street marks the site of the last bearbaiting ring on Bankside. The house on Bear Gardens is now the Globe Education Centre, part of the New Globe Theatre complex. The Centre specialises in organising workshops for student groups from schools and universities. It also hosts staged readings, lectures and seminar groups. It's colourful history has not been forgotten - in the foyer is a large stuffed blackbear!